Napoli, Pompeii, Sorrento

I spent the weekend in Naples with two of my roomates, Anna and Mary. We stayed in a lovely hotel on the waterfront, overlooking the Bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. Needless to say it was absolutely gorgeous. We all bought cameos here (made from shells from Africa, and carved right in Naples) The actually city of Naples is not at aesthetically pleasing as you would think, but along the water it was very nice.

Friday we spent the day wandering around Naples, and visited the Museo Nazionale, which holds many of the mosaics and artifacts excavated from Pompeii. We then walked all the way to the top of the hill in Naples to the Castel Nuovo. The view was incredible. We then spent an hour and a half zig-zagging our way down the hill to the waterfront where we caught the last minutes of sunset. On Saturday we ventured out to Pompeii, and let me just say, WOW! Pompeii was out of this world. I couldn't believe how large it actually was (we spent a few hours here and still couldn't cover every inch). It was amazing to walk around this ancient city that was buried after the erruption of Mount Vesuvius in 80 AD.

After Pompeii we hopped back on the train to Sorrento. It was a beautiful town built into the hillside overlooking the Bay of Naples and the other side of Mount Vesuvius. We all bought limoncello here, a lemon liqueur. We walked down to the waterfront here and watched the gorgeous sunset, then headed back to Naples for the night. The next morning we wandered Naples until our train in the early afternoon back to Rome.

"Tackling Climate Change: The Way Forward to Copenhagen"

On Tuesday morning, February 17th, I had the privilege of attending a conference on climate changes led by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who was joined by the former premier Guiliano Amato, Italian scientist Antonio Navarra, and other members of Congress, including Congressman George Miller (D - California), and Congressman Edward Markey (D - Massachusetts). One of the issues discussed is the current climate change crisis that is affecting the world today and how the Obama administration is working to create jobs and better the environment through "greener" practices.

Project One, Analysis of Piazza della Rotunda

Piazza della Rotunda and the Pantheon, Rome

Three sheets of A3 paper; pencil

(please note that the scans got cut off between pages 2 and 3, I'll try and re-scan them and fix it as soon as I can!)

Lessons Learned from Trip One

1. Pack a decent umbrella
2. Use a smaller suitcase that doesn't weigh a million pounds (elevators don't exist... anywhere)
3. Don't by a hair straitener with your roomates in northern Italy only to find out the plugs aren't the same in Rome
4. Research where to eat dinner and go out, so as not to wander aimlessly through cities at night looking for food and fun
5. Be mentally prepared to walk up 450 + steps to reach the top of any dome/tower
6. Expect Asian tourists... everywhere...
7. Find out what each city is known for, and buy a souvenir to remember it by
8. Pigeons in Italy love people, especially Anna Cero, so good reflexes are a must because they will fly right in your face
9. Remember your sunglasses
10. Dress in layers

Vicenza and Verona

The last stops on our trip were to Vicenza and Verona. We were immersed in the architecture of Andrea Palladio and Carlo Scarpa. We saw many buildings by Palladio in the city of Vicenza including his Basilica, Teatro Olimpico, Palazzo Chiericati, Palazzo Barbaran da Porta, Palazzo Valmarana Brago, and most notably, Villa Rotunda. One day we took a bus out to the countryside in the Verona region and saw two more Palladian villas: Villa Barbaro and Villa Emo, and also saw the Brion Cemetery (Tomba Brion) designed by Carlo Scarpa. The last day on the trip was spent in the city of Verona. We saw Juliet's balcony (from Romeo and Juliet) and Castel Vecchio. Carlo Scarpa did a renovation of this castle and we could see many of his details added to the castle, while still respecting the structure and overall aesthetic of the building.

Castel Vecchio, Verona

Tomba Brion

at Villa Emo

Villa Barbaro, Palladio

Villa Rotunda, Palladio

Venezia, Ti Amo

Venice is like a fairytale... no cars, no mopeds, you take boats everywhere, or you walk, there's a ton of charm, and amazing architecture. The first day we got to go to the top of the Campanile in Piazza San Marco (could only use the elevator this time, we were all ready to climb some more stairs if you can believe it). Again, the view was awesome, despite the clouds and rain. It was definitely an unforgettable experience to be able to see these cities from a bird's eye view. We also went inside the Basilica (no pictures allowed unfortunately) and saw a museum designed by Carlo Scarpa. Scarpa is famous for his attention to the details. If you've never been to Venice you should know that it is quite hard to navigate without a map, but my friends and I decided to find our way back to the hotel without one. It was fun running into dead ends and streets that lead strait to water. It took us a while, but we eventually made it back. Our second day in Venice had gorgeousss weather. After that day I basically wanted to move there. The water was turquoise, all of the colors of the buildings popped against the blue sky, and to top it off the sunset was one of the bests I've ever seen. We went back to Piazza San Marco (with the Basilica di San Marco and the Doges Palace) and then walked through Venice all day.

from on top of the Campanile

on the water taxi... the Rialto Bridge

Piazza San Marco

Basilica di San Marco

Santa Maria della Salute

typical canal in Venice

Venice at sunset

Bologna

We stopped for a day in the city of Bologna. It is known for its many archaded streets. In the morning we went to the outskirts of the city to see a reconstruction of Le Corbusier's installment at the L'Espirit Nouveau in 1925. It was reconstructed here in 1977. The outskirts of the city is full of some unattractive architecture, but the city center is full of the archaded streets, so that was much more enjoyable. Our sketching assignment here had us analyze the arcades in more depth. Six of my friends and I decided to climb up one of the Two Towers in Bologna (the taller one... 498 steps!). I don't what possessed us to do this, but we figured we had the stamina since we had already conquered the Duomo in Florence and the leaning tower. The view from the top was breathtaking. I loved all the red-tiled roofs of the city. After Bologna we hopped on the train to spend our first night in Venice!

Arcade in Bologna

view from the top of the tower in Bologna

Pisa

We got to climb to the top of the leaning tower of Pisa! It was definitely strange because it was a steeper climb on one side vs. the other, and the not-so-safe looking rail at the top made it a little scary, but it was awesome to say the least. We had a great view of the cathedral, baptistry, and Pisa from the top. We also got to see a modern apartment building installment in Pisa but is has unfortunately been abandoned.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

The view from the top

Rainy Days

So one of the most valuble things I have brought with me to Italy is an umbrella! It rains sooo much. We had quite a lot of fun over our trip breaking umbrellas and bargaining with the "umbrelly" guys for new ones. So a tip for anyone coming to Italy in January, have a good umbrella with you, or else you'll be spening 2 euro a day on a new one...

Firenze!

Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo) and the Baptistry

The first stop on our week long trip was to Florence. Florence is such a beautiful city with so much to see. The San Lorenzo market was right outside our hotel, full of vendors selling leather bags, jackets and shoes (Florence is famous for their leather). Our professors took us all over and we got to sketch in some amazing places designed by Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, and the likes. I also got to try a Florentine steak at our group dinner, which was delicious! Climbing up to the top of the Duomo was definitely the highlight. On such a sunny day, you can only imagine how amazing the view was. Luckily, the weather was on our side for our two days there... Here is everything we got to visit:

• Santa Maria del Fiore (and the Duomo by Brunelleschi) and the Baptistry (with the "Gates of Paradise" by Ghiberti)
• Biblioteca Medecia-Laurenziana (with Michelangelo's stairway and design for the library)
• Piazza della Signoria (with Palazzo Vecchio)
• Ponte Vecchio Bridge
• The Uffizi Gallery
• Santa Maria Novella (by Alberty)
• Basilica di San Lorenzo (by Brunelleschi) and the Sacristia Nuovo (by Michelangelo)
• Piazza Pitti
• Galleria dell'Accademia (with Michelangelo's David)
• Spedale degli Innocenti (The Foundling's Hospital by Brunelleschi)

Ponte Vecchio

The view from on top of the Duomo